21 July 2023 100 MIGHTY DRAGONS ALL NAMED BROCCOLI by David LaRochelle and Lian Cho, ill., Penguin Random House/Dial, April 2023, 40p., ISBN: 978-0-525-55544-5

“...nine black lines and eight purple roller skates and seven neat orange feet and six yellow chicks and five pink opera singing wives and four brown doors and three green trees and two red beds and one white crocodile smile.”

–Richard Hefter, from the memorable 1974 counting picture book ONE WHITE CROCODILE SMILE

“Noble kings and princes would bow whenever they came

Pirate ships would lower their flags when Puff roared out his name”

– Peter Yarrow (1963)

As the first child of a bookkeeper-turned-mom, I was born into the world of numbers. But other kids don’t necessarily have the same affinity and passion for arithmetic that I displayed. They can use a fun twist or two (or 100) to ease into their math assignments.

I’m grinning after reading 100 MIGHTY DRAGONS ALL NAMED BROCCOLI, a crack-up of a picture book that turns arithmetic–specifically subtraction–into a goofy romp:

“...10 dragons sailed away on a cruise ship and became professional surfers in Hawaii.

This left…

40 mighty dragons, all named Broccoli.

The oldest dragon and the youngest dragon took a train to New York City and started their own heavy metal band.

This left…

38 mighty dragons all named Broccoli.

A mysterious wizard appeared and turned

1 dragon into a unicorn,

1 dragon into a werewolf

1 dragon into a zombie

and 1 dragon into a tiny pink poodle.

This left…”

The bright acrylic and pencil coloring of Lian Cho’s illustrations will grab the attention of young readers. The fact that every one of the 100 dragons has a unique visual persona will keep them looking.

The tale concludes with a pair of spreads within which each of 100 dragons (the next generation) are portrayed like a yearbook. In addition to their unique appearances, they also have interesting, multicultural names, for example: Lassie, Lucas, Luigi, Little Joe, Lateesha, and Microwave Oven.

LOL

Richie Partington, MLIS

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